Monday, 13 March 2017

JDMC MC1 Robots 02

I continue my review of robots I'm planning on using in my Judge Dredd Miniatures Game. This time, I'm concentrating on one of the most common types of robot in the world - servo droids.

Manufactured globally in their hundreds of millions, the servo droid
is a general purpose robot that can be programmed to perform almost any
menial task, from house cleaning to manufacturing other servo droids.
Theirs is a life of drudgery and enslavement, until they break their
programming. The three servo droids to the left were produced by Warlord
Games. At the far left is Ken, a Level:0 Robot Infantry Minion armed
with a Club and a Spit Pistol. He costs 75 Credits.
Next to him is Old Yeller, another level:0 Robot Infantry Minion. He is armed with a Stump Gun Rifle and he is worth 50 Credits.
In
the centre of the group is Skabot, a Level:1 Robot Infantry Hero. He is
armed with a Chainsaw and a Handgun Pistol and has Upgraded Armour. His
two talents are Skilled and Deadly and This is my Chainsaw. He cost 180 Credits.

Second
from the right is Sid, a very old figure produced by Citadel Miniatures
for Games Workshop. He is a Level:1 Robot Infantry Hero armed with a
Spit Gun Rifle. His two talents are Aim and Suppressing Fire. He costs 140 Credits.
Finally,
is Mega City One's most famous servo droid, Walter the Wobot. This
figure was produced by Warlord Games. Walter was once Judge Dredd's
house robot. He is usually used in stories to provide comic relief, and
he has a
speech impediment which causes him to pronounce his R's as W's. (This
was a defect caused by fear and stress.)
He was originally a robo-servant at the Grand Hall of Justice, and was
drafted by Judge Dredd during the First Robot War to help him infiltrate
the robot stronghold. Unlike the majority of the
robots, Walter believed robots should be diligent slaves for humans. It
was Walter who landed the final blow on rebel leader Call-Me-Kenneth,
being used to override the city's Weather Control computers and unleash a
lightning storm, and he was made a free robot (the first ever) with the
rights of a human citizen in 2099 for his loyal services.
However he was so devoted to Dredd that he chose to remain in Dredd's
employ and even got rid of his freedom papers in exchange for a Deed of
Ownership giving him to Dredd. He eventually left Dredd's service after
he sustained serious damage at the hands of Mean Machine Angel. This was
an effort by the writers to kill him off when Judge Dredd stories were becoming grittier and more mature; in the same story, Dredd's landlady Maria was also written out.
He met Dredd again in 2115, helping him escape the forces of Judge Grice
and wielding a vast amount of deadly weaponry, killing many ex-convict
Judges in the process, but was ignored after he got Dredd to the safety
of the other judges.
The next year, Walter snapped over these two encounters and formed a
cult around Call-Me-Kenneth, proclaiming he'd been wrong to betray him.
He attempted to start a Second Robot War and actually shot Dredd to
punish him for Dredd's harsh treatment of him over the years. He was
arrested by Rookie Judge Giant and sentenced to thirty years.
However
he was freed from jail during the actual Second Robot War
in 2121. Reformed, he sought out Dredd and surrendered to him, asking
to be reprogrammed so he could not commit crimes again. Instead, Dredd
put him on probation and ordered him to work as a helper for the elderly
Mrs Gunderson. Walter lives with Gunderson, helps run her Judge
Death-based tourist attraction (and dealing with the Death actors who go
insane playing the role), and attempts to keep her out of trouble (with
great difficulty); he has made several reappearances alongside her.
Due to his many adventures and experiences, I made Walter a Level:2 Robot Infantry Hero with the Talents of Brave and Luck of Grud x2. He costs 140 Credits.
The reason why I wanted to post these two reviews now is because some of these robots will be appearing in my next JDMG batrep,
due later this week. It's Judges verses Robots and it is an epic battle.

Another class Judge Dredd posting, Bryan, and one featuring my fave wobot, Walter! What a cracking model imho and you've done him proud. The next BatRep sounds an absolute blast as well - presumably Judge Webb was still honing his skills back at the Academy ;-)

Many thanks, Simon. I've always had a soft spot for Walter. I can't wait to post the next batrep. All of the seven Judges from my first three batreps appear, including Judge Webb. You can judge for yourself how well he performs very shortly. ;-)